


hotter

by orphan_account



Series: wtm works [2]
Category: WALK THE MOON (Band)
Genre: !!!!!, M/M, Multi-chap, coffee shop AU, petray - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 04:31:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5361452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>who can resist a wtm petray coffee shop au???? no one !!!!!!</p><p>this is my first multi-chap fic please bear with me</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. don't cry over spilled... lattes

**Author's Note:**

> pls enjoy !!! also follow me @niclcolaspetricca on tumblr !! thank u for reading !!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dating tip #1: don't spill coffee on yourself in front of him, damn it.

Nick loathed the morning shift.

He hated having to deal with customers in general, but early was the worst time. He hated the men in business suits who prioritized themselves (he once had to forcefully drag a man to the back of the line after he'd pushed his way through the mob), he hated the high school students who took an eternity to order, and he especially hated waking up early.

At least, today, Sean and Eli were with him.

At 6:30 in the morning, the interior of the coffee shop was relatively empty, even if the drive-thru line wound around the entire building. Nick sighed, turning, leaning against the counter and looking in Eli's direction. The man in question was dealing with a woman who "certainly would _not_ pay $4 for a cup of coffee!!!!!!"

Sean walked over and dealt with it, and the albeit unhappy woman sped away so quickly that the screech of her tires could be heard as she turned the corner. Nick laughed.

Eli turned to look at Nick and smiled, tipping his head in the direction of the door. Sean smiled, too, and turned toward Nick to whisper something in his ear.

"I'm ready to set you up on a date now," Sean murmured, looking at the space outside the counter.

Nick turned around so fast that his head hurt momentarily. He watched as a boy with brown hair and bright green eyes approached the counter, and he froze when said boy stopped and put his hands on the counter.

Sean nudged Nick and he was brought back to reality, spluttering out, "Hi, welcome–uh, how can I help you?"

The boy smiled, licking his lips as he looked up at the menu. "Can I have a small caramel latte?"

Nick blindly reached for a cup, not taking his eyes off the boy and consequently knocking over the stack of coffee cups.

"Sh–oot!" he yelled, picking up and stacking the cups tediously before he stood back up and smiled awkwardly, plucking a Sharpie from the counter. "Sorry. Uh, your name?"

"Kevin," he replied.

 _Kevin. Nice._  Nice name for a nice face. Nick scribbled Kevin's name on the cup and _fuck, why did I write a heart instead of a dot on the 'i' let me change that really quick._ There was a dark black circle on the cup above Kevin's name, but it was better than the heart.

Nick handed the cup to Sean and watched Kevin step out of line, putting earbuds in his ears and turning around to lean on another part of the counter.

Eli put his hand on Nick's shoulder, and Nick jumped so high he might have grazed the roof. "Smooth going, romantic."

Nick sighed, licking his lips, and patted Eli's hand. "I know, right?"

Eli chuckled and turned to the drive-thru line again. Nick sighed, watching Sean finish off the latte and promptly snatching it from his hands.

"Kevin?" Nick called. He saw the left side of Kevin's body, unaware as the music from the earbuds and the distraction of his phone probably gave him no knowledge of whatever was going on around him. Nick brought it upon himself to deliver Kevin's latte now that he really had to.

So he sidestepped out from behind the counter and walked toward Kevin, holding the latte with both hands.

In this instant, Kevin turned around on his heel rather quickly, and before Nick knew what was happening there was a pungent smell of caramel and coffee in the air and– _FUCK, THAT IS HOT!_

This time, he didn't try to censor his cursing, and he started swearing like a sailor. "Fucking– _aah_! Holy _shit!_ Fuck fuck fuck fuck that is _hot_!"

Eventually, he was reduced to pained, shaky breathing, clutching his chest in the place where the latte had spilled as though he'd been shot there. Kevin stared at him warily all the while, and when Nick was finally done shouting (and scaring away several customers) Kevin had brought him napkins and started patting down his chest.

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry–I really am–don't worry about anything, I've got it–" Kevin was repeating, sounding like a broken record with hundreds of napkins shoved in his hands as he tried desperately to clean the brown, scalding stain on Nick's once-pristine white shirt.

"No, don't worry," Nick whimpered–it was only really a whimper because his chest was still burning. He'd reduced himself to pushing back tears and that was fine by him.

As Kevin kept pressing napkins to his ruined shirt, Nick watched Sean slip behind them and place another latte on a table. He gave Nick a thumbs up and sort of skipped back toward the counter, jumping over.

Nick stepped back. "I'm sorry for the hassle," he said, and motioned toward the do-over latte which Sean had #blessed him with.

Kevin turned. "Are you sure? I mean, it's kind of my fault this whole thing happened..."

"Oh, please. It's not." Then, after pausing, he started again: "Also, don't feel to embarrassed to show your face in here again. I'd be glad if you showed up again."

The words were out of his mouth before he could do anything, and he felt the need to slam something very heavy into his own head to forget this whole thing.

Kevin, however, didn't seem to mind, and actually smiled at this. "It takes a lot to embarrass me–and, frankly, I was embarrassed, but not too much to keep me from coming back."

He picked up his latte and turned toward Nick, waving. "So, yes, I will be back."

Nick watched him leave, smiling.

That afternoon, when his shift was over, he begged his manager for any and all available morning shifts.


	2. going out for not-coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dating tip #2: ask him if he wants to go for coffee–wait...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (credits to eli [not maiman] for this idea and helping me not crash and burn)

Kevin did, indeed, continue to come back.

Every time the green-eyed boy walked into the coffee shop, Nick's world brightened, and 6:30 in the morning became a much more pleasant time for him. Sure, it meant dealing with the rest of the morning, but that was worth it, really.

Today, Nick felt an unusual surge in his confidence. Usually, he was a stuttering mess around Kevin. Usually, he didn't bother talking much to Kevin, as he'd fuck up in the process of doing so. But, these past few days, it had been easier for Nick to talk to him, and their conversations had stretched so long that the people waiting in line would grumble and complain. Nick had even started to–hush-hush–give Kevin employee discounts. Kevin was not one to disagree with this.

And, for some reason, Nick felt it was necessary to do what he'd thought impossible since the day he first met Kevin.

Nick watched the door swing open, and he felt Sean's hand on his shoulder. Of course, he'd told him and Eli all about his plan. This was in case he needed moral support–which he definitely would–or, if he crashed and burned, needed saving.

Sean's hand fell as Kevin approached the counter, leaning onto it with one arm on the countertop. He grinned, pursing his lips, and looked at Nick expectantly.

"Hey," Nick said, and somehow in that one word his voice managed to crack twice. _What the hell, Petricca?  
_

Kevin never changed what he ordered, so Sean had already placed the latte on the counter and Kevin had already handed Nick the money before Nick spoke up.

"So," Nick started, and Kevin looked up, blinking.

"I was wondering if-if maybe–" Nick gathered himself, breathing heavily, and looked up at Kevin, staring him in the eyes. It made him start to lose his focus. He was getting lost, literally, in Kevin's eyes. It felt like how it was described in novels–losing your thoughts slowly, and then all at once becoming completely engrossed. He only realized what he'd been saying when Kevin asked, "What?"

Nick felt a presence behind him–either Sean or Eli, watching him sink. "Uh, I was wondering if, uh," he stammered, "if you wanted to maybe go out for coffee sometime, or-or something?"

And then, in his head, Nick heard the sound of that cartoonish whistling when something fell from a great height. For him, that thing was his chances plummeting. He'd asked Kevin to go out for coffee.

He worked at a coffee shop. He'd met Kevin at the same damned coffee shop. Kevin was a _daily customer_ at the same damned coffee shop.

Nick felt like crying. He knew Kevin saw this from the way the boy's face fell, suddenly forming a look of concern. Nick had fucked up, and Kevin knew he had, and Kevin also knew that Nick knew he'd fucked up. It was a cycle of knowing, and not one Nick wanted to be stuck in.

"Wow, _shit_ ," Nick murmured, his eyes trailing the cracks on the countertop. He didn't want to look up. No–he didn't dare look back up at Kevin, because he was afraid of the embarrassment that would follow.

And then Kevin, the smooth motherfucker he was, picked it up.

"Well," he began, and Nick looked up ever so slightly. "I don't think _coffee_ is a good way to go. I mean, I'm already a very, very energetic person, even before this." He held up the latte in his hand.

Nick deflated. "Oh."

"But," Kevin continued, "I would not mind going out to–well, anything else. Lunch, dinner, movie, throwing water balloons at passersby, you name it."

"That last one was oddly specific."

"That'd be _my_ date of choice."

Nick's breath caught in his throat. He'd heard Kevin correctly, right? He said the word date. Instead of, like, get together or something. Date. There was something good about that one word, something that made Nick want to explode into a fireworks display. That was a weird way to describe it, but that was what he felt like. His face hurt, probably because he'd just realized he had been smiling and not said a word.

"Oh, uh–I–" he stuttered, trying to regain his senses. "That–that sounds like it'd be fun, actually!"

"Nice," Kevin whispered.

"So, when?"

"Depends, when do you get off work?"

"Around noon," Nick replied.

"Okay. That park right there"–Kevin pointed out the side window, and across the street from the coffee shop was the park in question–"after you get off work. Sound good?" He smiled without waiting for an answer, and an overwhelmed Nick nodded anyway.

"Alright, cool." Kevin turned, waving, and let just like that. Nick put a hand to his chest and exhaled, stumbling back dramatically until he ran into Eli.

He turned, and Eli's facial expression was one of pride and also one that looked ready to embarrass the hell out of Nick. Eli snickered and patted Nick's shoulder.

"Nice job, man."

Nick smiled. "Thanks." He was still shaking a bit, and he breathed out again before running a hand over his face and turning back to the counter.

He didn't really like his job, but this time he _seriously_ couldn't wait for his shift to be over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> side note i also can't write or develop plot for SHIT whoooooopppsssss expect this to go either too fast or too slow and be full of trash adjectives farewell


End file.
